Can employers exclude women to protect children?

Article Abstract:

Should an employer be able to require that a woman be sterile for specific areas of employment? The Supreme Court is considering the issue in International Union v Johnson Controls. The issue being contested is over the right of the company to restrict women from jobs that involve exposure to lead, under Title VII, the Federal anti-discrimination law. In the Johnson Control case, a 50-year-old divorcee was prevented from working with lead, even though at age 50 there was a low risk of her becoming pregnant. In fact, the possible adverse effects upon a younger male worker, such as impotence, sterility, decreased libido, and decreased sperm count and motility, are arguably much greater. There is evidence that the wives of lead workers have a greater rate of childlessness and spontaneous abortions than women in the general population. The experts for Johnson Controls quote a recent study pointing out that the presence of higher lead levels in the blood of umbilical cords is associated with impaired physical development and slowed mental maturation. Under Title VII, there is a single statutory defense that the sex of the individual is a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ). The BFOQ can not be frivolously applied; an airline cannot hire female attendants because doing so allows it to project a sexy image, or because women attendants are more nurturing to passengers. One example of a court-sanctioned BFOQ was the exclusion of female prison guards from an understaffed male prison where 20 percent of inmates were sex offenders. In this case the Supreme court regarded ''the very womanhood'' as a threat to security. The case brings to the forefront the stereotypical thinking that colors many such decisions, and the manner in which similar restrictions are not applied against males who are at equal or even greater risk. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Cases, Laws, regulations and rules, Johnson Controls Inc., Working women, Sex discrimination against women

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Treatment of obesity in children

Article Abstract:

A follow-up study of obese children who were treated in a program of short duration is presented in the November 21, 1990 issue of JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association. Its positive results run counter to two commonly accepted assumptions concerning obesity; that fat children become fat adults, and that when weight is lost in treatment programs, it is regained rapidly. The study reports that treated children were less obese than untreated children 10 years later. Possible explanations for the study's effects are discussed. While the treatment limited obesity, it did not prevent it. The most effective treatment was that aimed at both parents and children. These people were still 35 percent overweight years later, but subjects from other treatment groups (where parents were not targeted) were more overweight. The families were intact and middle-class, and likely to support their children (the parents themselves gained back all the weight they had lost). Most important, perhaps, was the nature of the program. The ''Traffic Light Diet,'' used in the study and developed by one of its authors, represents a behavioral approach to the problem of obesity. Other aspects of the program are well worth consideration; its presentation should allow replication. Childhood obesity is an ever-increasing problem; news that it can be combatted is welcome, indeed. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Care and treatment, Methods, Weight loss, Family, Family health, Obesity in children, Childhood obesity, editorial

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Herpes Simplex Virus Vaccines: Why Don't Antibodies Protect?

Article Abstract:

Vaccines against herpes simplex virus (HSV) 2 may need to stimulate cellular immunity as well as antibodies against the virus. HSV-2 is the cause of genital herpes. An effective vaccine is important because the virus can be transmitted during childbirth. A 1999 study found that an HSV-2 vaccine did not lower the rate of genital herpes even though it stimulated the production of antibodies against the virus. However, HSV-2 does not always enter the bloodstream and would therefore not be affected by antibodies. Current vaccines might still lower transmission rates even if they don't prevent herpes in the vaccinated person.

Editorial, Evaluation, Prevention, Herpes genitalis, Genital herpes, Viral vaccines

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